Pat Haden to retire as USC athletic director

Pat Haden, who has led USC Athletics since 2010, will retire as USC athletic director at the end of June, the university announced today.

“I ask you to join me in thanking this Trojan legend for his leadership during a historic moment of transition for Trojan Athletics,” USC President C. L. Max Nikias said.

Haden will stay on for a year to guide the university’s renovation of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and will maintain an office in the Bovard Administration Building.

Since Haden moved from USC trustee to athletic director in August 2010, USC teams have won 10 national championships, a figure exceeded only by University of Florida’s 11 during the same period. The university has also recorded four Honda Sports Award winners, 32 individual national championships, 274 All-American first-team selections, three Crosstown Cup trophies, and 25 Olympic medals by Trojan athletes, continuing the university’s track record for athletic excellence.

At the same time, academic performance by USC’s student athletes reached all-time highs under his leadership.

Haden established the first endowment in any athletic department for community service, making volunteerism an important part of the student athlete experience. USC athletes volunteer more than 4,000 hours of service at 300-plus events during the year.

During Haden’s tenure, USC Athletics hit its highest fundraising total ever and has made myriad improvements to USC’s athletics facilities, including the opening of the John McKay Center and the Merle Norman sand volleyball stadium, the establishment of the Buntmann Family Tennis Center and the renovation of the Uytengsu Center for aquatic sports and Heritage Hall, the athletic department’s home.

“Pat developed and executed a blueprint for how athletics and academics can reinforce one another at an academically elite private research university with a public-minded mission,” Nikias said.

The university will conduct a search to find Haden’s replacement.